weight



2 Sheets-Sheet; 1.

P. WRIGHT.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

(No Model.)

Patented Oct. 23,1888.

wHHH Q IHHI UIIH I! mm INVENTOR, Parmn Wr ght Byhtls flttoi'neysWITNESSES.

00 WWW 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P. WRIGHT.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

(No Model.)

Patented Oct. 23, 1888.

INVENTIOR, t?

N. PETERS. Pnoloumo n mr, Washin ton, Dv c.

Darren States Patent Oriana.

PARVIN VRIGHT, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

ELECTRlC RAE LWAY.

SPECIPECATION -c-rming part of Letters Patent. No. 391,447, datedOctober 23, 1888.

Serial No. 266,696. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PARVIN WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Denver, county of Arapahoe, and State of Colorado, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Railways, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of electric railways in which theelectric current to drive the motor of a vehicle traversing a track isderived from an electric circuit running parallel with the track andprovided with separable contacts from which the current is transferredto a plow or separator having insulated contact-pieces electricallyconnected to the motor on the vehicle.

The object of my invention is to improve the construction of theseparable contacts and their circuit-connections, so as to render themmore reliable in operation and less liable to become impaired by use.

Previous to my invention there has been considerable difficulty inkeeping the contacts in good condition. It frequently happens thatpieces of rock, mud, &c., will.get between the contacts and keep themapart, so as to impede the flow of the'electric current, and also causean are or sparks to pass from one contact to another, so that, since thecircuit is always through the contacts, they will fuse more or less andin time become practically inoperative. Again, the ordinary contactsoften remain apart a moment after the separator on the moving vehiclehas passed, which also causes sparks or an are between the contacts. Iobviate these difficulties by employing a supplemental contact, whichprevents this momentary separation after the separator has passed, andby providing circuit changing devices protected from atmosphericinfluences, 830., for shunting the current around the contacts when theyare together2'. 6., when they are not separated by the plow.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is adiagram illustrating an electric circuit for an electric railway withthe main-line contacts. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my improvedcontacts and circuit-changers, showing their circuit-connections, andalso showing the plow or separator for forcing apart the main-linecontacts.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of an underground conduit, showingmyiinproved contacts and circuit-changer in place. Fig. 4 is alongitudinal section showing a side View of one of the mainlinecontacts. Fig. 5 shows in section a modified form of thecircuit-changer. Fig. 6 showsanother modification of the same.

Referring to Fig. 1, A represents an electric generator; a, an electriccircuit including contacts a, arranged to make and break the circuit inwell-known Ways.

In Figs. 3 and 4,13 indicates an underground conduit forthe-circuit-wires, provided with a suitable casing, b, covering b, andcasting b". O O are the main-line contacts, which are mounted onyielding supports 0 c, which are secured to the casting b but insulatedtherefrom by any suitable material, 0'. The contacts G O are normallyheld together by their spring'supports c c, and are suitably shaped topermit the plow or separator I on the moving vehicle to pass betweenthem. The mainline Wire D is supported in hangers D, (only one shown,)located in the conduit below the contacts, above the bottom of thecasing, and at one side, so as to be protected from at1nosphericinfluences, wet Weather, 850., and so far removed from the surface ofthe conduit as to obviate any danger to animals and persons who mightotherwise receive the current from the line or from parts of the conduitcontiguone to the line. The hangers D being at one side of the conduit,mud, water, 820., falling through the opening at the top of the conduitwill not lodge on the conductors.

As clearly indicated in Fig. 2, there is a direct connection of the mainline below the main-line contacts 0 O and omitting them from the circuitwhen they are together, since the direct connection is shorter and ofless re sistance than the contacts. The main line, however, connectswith the supports 0, as shown, which are in turn electrically connectedto the contact 0. The contact O is electrically connected to thesupports 0, which are connected to the continuation of the main line, asshown at (ll As is well understood, the main line comes from a contactusually about twenty-five feet behind in the conduit to one of a pair ofcontacts, and then a continuation of the main line extends from theopposite erably consists of a tube, 0, of insulating material supportedby a hanger, e, and free to slide therein. The tube 0 is provided at itsouter end with a flanged plug, e*, and around the tube 6, between theflanged plug and the hanger e,is arranged a spiral spring, 0, whichtends to hold the flanged end of the tube away from the hanger.

F indicates a pair ofyielding contact-fingers electrically connected tothe main line at d.

Findicates the shank of the eontactfingers, which is secured to abracket, (2 on the casing b. The plugged end of the tube 6 is free toslide back and forth on the shank F.

H indicates a supplemental contact-lever pivoted to a bracket, H, andprovided at its upper end with a transverse head, h, which projects intoa recess, h, and an opening, h", in the contact 0. The opening it is ofsufficient size to allow the end of the head It to pro ject through itand bear against the contact 0. When the head It does thus projectthrough the opening h, the upper end of the lever II near the head bearsagainst and makes electrical contact with the mainline contact 0. Thelever is preferably jointed at 71/3 to permit easy movement. The lowerend of the lever H is securely fastened, preferably by a hinged joint,as shown, to the prolongation e of the contact-finger 0*, which issecured in the inner end of the tube 6 and adapted at its outer end topass between and make electrical connection with the pair ofcontact-fingers F. The contact-finger e is electrically connected by aconductor, 6, to the main line at a.

By this organization it will be observed that when the main-linecontacts are together, as shown in Fig. 2, the electric current willpass from the main line (referring now to Fig. 3) to eontactfingers F,contact-finger e, electrical conductor a, to main line again; but whenthe main-line contacts 0 G are separated by the plow or separator I, asshown in Fig. 3, the lever H will be shifted so as to withdraw thefinger c and the tube to which it is secured away from the pair offingers F, thus breaking the electric connection between the fingers andcausing the current to pass to the support 0, thence to contact 0, thento contact 12 of the separator I, then through the circuit-wires z" andmotor to opposite contact, 2, on the separator, then to main-linecontact 0, support 0, to main line again.

By having a direct connection for the main line, normally omitting themain-line contacts, I am enabled to so locate the circuit-changingdevices as to protect them from atmospheric influences and from foreignmatter, such as water, mud, &c.

As shown in the drawings,the circuit-changing fingers e" and F areinclosed in a tube lo cated in the conduit away from the opening at thetop. By this organization, also, the mainline current is nearly alwaysthrough the direet connection and only shifts to the mainline contactswhen they are separated by the plow on the moving vehicle.

Another important feature of the organization is that the head of thelever H projects through the contact 0 when the plow or separator isremoved and rests against the opposite main-line contact, 0, so thatshould the contacts 0 0 be held apart by any accident, good electricalconnection will still be made from contact 0 through the head h tocontact O, (the upper part of the lever H being -in contact with themain-line contact 0, as

above explained.)

Instead of loosely connecting the lever II to the contact 0 through themedium of asliding head, h, as indicated in Fig. 3, the lever may bedirectly connected to the contact 0, as indicated in Fig. 2, and theoperation will be the same, the essential feature of this part of myinvention being an organization in which the main current is shuntedaround the mainline contacts when they are together t'. 6., when theyare not separated by the plow.

In Fig. 5 Ihave shown a modification of the circuit-changer or devicesfor making and breaking the shunt-circuit. J indicates a tube, in thisinstance shown as made of glass, and j j are blocks of insulatingmaterial in the ends of the tube. K indicates the contact-finger of theshunt-wire, which is adapted to slide in the block j, and is providedwith a collar, K, which is firmly attached by a setscrew, In. Betweenthe collar K and a bracket, K is interposed a spiral spring, The pair ofcontact-fingers L, which connect with the main line, are rigidly securedto the block j, which is formed with a projection adapted to secure itto the walls of the conduit. The spring 70 tends to hold thecontact-fingers K and L in engagement with each other. They may bewithdrawn by the lever B, which is secured to an insulating-block, Z, onthe contact-finger K.

Fig. 6 simply shows a modification of the contact-fingers, which,instead of being fiat, are shown as round.

Instead of using a spiral spring for the circuit-changer, as aboveexplained, I may employ a spring, 0, applied directly to the lever H, asshown in Fig. 2.

The organizations above described are sin1- ple, efficient, and are thebest ways now known to me of embodying my improvements; but the detailsof construction may be considerably varied without departing from thescope of my invention.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, in an electric railway, ofthe main line, the separable main-line contacts, and thecircuit-changing devices comprising yielding contact fingerselectrically connected to the main line, and the supplementalcontact-lever by which electrical connection is made between themain-line contacts and the yielding contact-fingers, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the conduit, the main line, the main-linecontacts, the separator, the circuit-changing devices protected by theconduit, and mechanical connections between the main-line contacts andcircuit-changing devices, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

3. The combination of the main line, the main-line contacts, electricalconnections between the mainline and the mainline contacts, a directconnection of the main line omitting the main-line contacts,circuit-changing devices consisting of separable contact-fingers withina protective casing, and an operatinglever attached to one of thecontact-fingers and adapted to be shifted by a vehicle traversing therailway, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the main line, the main-line contacts, electricalconnections be- PARVIN \VRIG HT.

Witnesses:

T. .H. COLLINS, H. B. NQRTIIROP.

